It may be a little unsettling but the fact remains: a chimpanzee and a human being have 98.8 per cent of their DNA in common. We are very close cousins, biologically speaking—but we are also vastly different. Only humans have the ability to reach for the stars and comprehend the cosmos. Through the agency of mathematics, and the beautiful equations that define the laws of nature, we have unlocked many of the secrets of the universe and discovered how it works. It seems that we have been given the ability to do so, and perhaps even the invitation to do so.

Some scientists are asking why humankind has this wonderful power to understand things. It seems that we alone have the ability to unlock the secrets of the universe. The particle physicist and theologian, John Polkinghorne, marvels that the universe is so astonishingly open to us and rationally transparent to our enquiry. In his view, the fact that we understand the subatomic world of quantum theory and the cosmic implications of general relativity goes far beyond anything that could conceivably be of relevance to survival fitness.

Our universe is extraordinarily intelligible to us, and it allows mathematics to unlock its secrets. This remarkable feature requires an explanation. Polkinghorne suggests that the existence of God provides the best. He says: “If the universe is the creation of a rational God, and we are creatures made in the divine image, then it is entirely logical that there is order in the universe and that it is accessible to our minds.”

That’s not a bad statement from one of the best academic minds around. So why not explore the existence of God for yourself.

God says in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.” What does this mean?

Can I suggest that it means this?

• The big-heartedness of God lives in us.
• The passion for good to win lives in us.
• The creativity of God lives in us.
• The desire for significance lives in us.
• The ache for the love of God lives in us.
• The hunger for the eternity of God lives in us.
• It also explains why:

Death is obscene to us.

• Lack of meaning is obscene to us.
• Lack of relationships is obscene to us.
• Lack of a purpose is obscene to us.
• Lack of being able to give and receive love is obscene to us.

All this makes sense if we are made in God’s image as spiritual beings.

Christians believe that we are the result of a deliberate act of self-expression on the part of God. We are made in his image. This is profound. No other religion in the history of the world has made this claim.

Being made in the image of God means we have the ability to make spiritual, intellectual and moral judgements in a way that no other created animal can—even those to which we are closely related biologically. Dr Ian Tattersall, in his book, Becoming Human, says that humanity represents a totally unprecedented entity on Earth.

So, don’t write yourself off! Don’t just think of yourself as a race of animals who have climbed to the top of the evolutionary pole… and have since become toxic to the rest of the planet.

If you are made in the image of God… it means you were created to relate to God. From this, it follows that if you are not relating to God with love and respect, you have fallen vastly short of your calling and you are operating merely as an animal.

Please don’t. You were meant for so much more.